Solazo Taqueria — Restaurant in Jacksonville

I’m up sick at 4am because of this place and I wish I had read the reviews before our first visit and that hubby hadn’t gone back to try again last night.. Lets us travel back in time together for a second- When our favorite spot El Potro on Normandy was closed for the weekend of Independence Day we decided to try this place and that particular experience was “Eh”.. They were out of carnitas so we got al pastor, the meat was tender and flavorful, though it was odd they didn’t include lime wedges, just a TON of cilantro and white onion. The corn tortillas weren’t properly cooked so they were dry and stiff and tasted of cheap oil and even though they use two shells, because they didn’t cook them completely they were soggy and ripped apart 1/2 way through. I had to remove the meat and heat up my own corn tortillas that are just store bought but once I did that the tacos were good. The salsa was not fresh and kinda too hot- I like hot salsa but it’s got to be homemade not jar salsa. So, kinda disappointing.

Now, back to our current experience.. Hubby came home after work yesterday with carnitas and man- what a disgusting disappointment. Again with the pre made industrial salsa, tasted of metal, too hot, not fresh, just bad. The corn chips were undercooked and stale. The queso had a skin on it and was just so-so, I mean, it’s cheese dip, no flavor just cheesy. Same issue as before with the corn tortillas, not fully cooked so they get soggy and rip two bites in it’s a total soggy disgusting mess and they taste of industrial waste oil. Idk what the heck they did to this meat but I should have stopped at the first bite when I thought “Why are these carnitas sooo sickly sweet?” But I was hangry and it was time to grub so I proceeded trying not to be too judgy about this weird overly sweet carnitas recipe. I’d say the meat reminded me of char siu bao, those lil asian bbq buns, but just the bbq meat. So, I was entirely grossed out and couldn’t eat my second taco. The tacos don’t even have enough meat in them for the cost and WAY too much cilantro- I was raised partially by an Abuela who used unholy amounts of cilantro in her salsa and I must say that this was more cilantro than I’m ok with even after decades of copious amounts of cilantro in my diet.

Anyways, before I could even clean up I was about to vomit. My stomach was turning and pinching, I got nauseous, started sweating, then my intestines started to hurt and well, it ruined my whole evening’s plans and now I’m back up in the early am questioning my life choices.

Warning to the wise.. Don’t trust Hipster Dufus types to make authentic Hispanic cuisine, and apparently also to not food poison you. I knew this but am open minded and gave this place a shot. Had I previously read the reviews which I had trusted my husband to do, I would never have trusted this place because they have too many negative reviews. What a sick joke of a Mexican cuisine restaurant. NEVER AGAIN!! Visit this restaurant at your own risk or just skip and go to El Potro- even Puerto Plata, a Dominican cuisine restaurant, has better tacos (Their food is EXCELLENT as well as El Potro on Normandy). There are too many good authentic cuisine establishments to waste money at this...

How this place is a 4.3 instead of a 4.8 or higher is beyond me.

We got the lunch menu Special Burrito, the Solazo Fajitas, and Guacamole Ranchero with Elote for appetizer. The food is OUTTA THIS WORLD, y'all. We went on a Monday around lunch time, so it was pretty empty. Our service was super fast, on-point, and we weren't kept waiting for anything. The chips and salsa came right as we sat down, which should be standard but still I think is very nice. I think the one wait staff they had was on break in the middle there and the chef himself came out several times to check on us, grab chip/drink refills, etc. They offered a to-go drink and chips at the very end as well. The fajitas dish was a HUGE pile of food. (Side comment on the brisket in the fajitas - I normally like to sub it or exclude it because it tends to be dry or tough, and I much prefer the steak and shrimp. However, the brisket in these fajitas was fully seasoned throughout, flavorful, and tender.) The burrito was pretty standard, delicious, and the Guac Ranchero and Elote were to DIE for. Like I cannot wait until we can return. Plus their website is easy to navigate and has a very well organized online menu if you like to know what you're getting before you arrive like we do. Check for yourself - the prices are killer, especially in this day and age.

We used to frequent another Mexican place right across the street called El Jefe. They went out of business a little while back kind of suddenly, and I had always wondered if the money was mismanaged there or what the heck happened, because their food was also the bomb.com. Now we're pretty sure El Jefe is gone because of this place, lol. (RIP El Jefe)

We absolutely CANNOT wait to come back! WE...

My husband and I were looking for some hot fresh Mexican food to end our Sunday night, we were pretty hungry and went to Solazo because it closed at 10pm. Our waiter was pleasant but that was maybe one of the few things that were okay about our visit.

I’m pretty basic when I go to a New Mexican place and always get the fajitas to see if the food is any good. This is the first time that I didn’t get any rice with my fajitas. I’m not sure if it’s just me or if my expectations where high so correct me if I’m wrong but I thought it was standard to get rice with your fajitas as well as beans guacamole sour cream , tortillas and lettuce and cheese. Anyway no rice only 2 tortillas. The beans were how I knew that this isn’t a good Mexican place. It tasted like powdered beans and Ive never even had powdered beans but somehow that’s what I was getting. You can’t get beans wrong that’s just no. Guacamole wasn’t even that , cheese seemed old lettuce not fresh, fajitas itself was another thing that was okay because it was hot but not memorable, best thing I had all night was my coke and my husband agreed, he got a dish that I forgot the name of and was cold on the inside. Needless to say we will be sticking to our go to...